GrayLu Week 2016
by ImpracticalDemon
Summary: Chapters written for Gray x Lucy Week 2016 (Sep 2016). Prompts: Day 1 Whispers; 2 Déjà Vu; 3 Letters; 4 Drunk; 5 Breakdown; 6 Weakness (GrayLu Day) [T content; *M content separate*]; 7 Undercover; [NEW] 8 Fly. ** All connected stories** Mainly relationship growth/fluff/magic. Part modern setting. [T-shirt/Vintage prompts not connected **see separate stories**] [Gray F. x Lucy H.]
1. Perceptions, or How to Totally Misread

**GrayLu Week 2016 Day 1 (September 1 - Happy Gray Day!)**

 **Prompt: Whispers**

 **My first attempt at a non-Hakuoki fic...**

 **CoverArt** courtesy of **whitefoxie** on tumblr!

* * *

 **Chapter 1 - Perceptions, or How to Totally Misread a Situation  
Fairy Tail Guild, Part I**

* * *

Lucy was quickly getting to know everyone at Fairy Tail. It was in her nature to be both kind and outgoing, and most of the other mages were reasonably friendly. Some people, like Mira and Levy had become true friends, although Mira was still a bit mysterious in some ways. And everyone at Fairy Tail was like family, of course – which meant that things weren't always harmonious!

It was strange how running into Natsu by complete coincidence had led to her being a valued (well, improving) member of the strongest team of Fairy Tail. At least, that's what others called them. Lucy knew that Erza was one of the strongest members of the guild all on her own. And Erza had hinted that Natsu would eventually be at least as strong as she was. Lucy was just amazed at how much damage the so-called Salamander could take – and so had been many of their enemies before he found a way to take them down.

The one person on the team who she felt she didn't know reasonably well by now was Gray, who tended to be a lot quieter and more serious than Natsu – except when they were in one of their knock-down, no-holds-barred fights. Lucy found Gray a bit confusing. On the one hand, she'd seen the Ice-Make mage flirting with pretty girls a number of times. He certainly seemed capable of smiling. On the other hand, he seemed to carry a certain sadness with him and although he made it clear that he cared a lot about his team-mates, he didn't actually smile at them much. Well, unless he was laughing at Natsu.

"Hey Luce." Lucy looked up, surprised, as Gray sat down beside her at the table in the guild's big common room and eating area.

"Hi, Gray – what's up? Have you been looking at the job board?"

He took a sip of the drink he was carrying and shrugged.

"Not really. Just passing by and saw that you were waiting for Erza." He nodded at a large piece of cake across the table from Lucy and they exchanged a smile.

There. There it was… He had a great smile. Not a grin like Natsu's or a smirk like half the males in the guild. No wonder he attracted so many girls when they travelled. … On the other hand, it could be the fact that he usually ended up walking around in the bare minimum (heh) of clothing – sometimes just a pair of boxers if he was really distracted. He had _really_ nice muscles… Lucy was just trying to decide whether his eyes were dark, dark grey or a kind of really deep blue when Gray coughed in a "um, hello?" kind of way.

"Everything okay, Lucy? You're just kind of staring at me, you know?"

" _Staring_ at you? Me? Oh, no, nothing like that – I mean why would I stare at you? I mean – other than the fact that you're _taking your clothes off_! Gray, stop it!"

He managed to stop before things got too far and jumped up to collect his things. Lucy sighed. She should just get used to it. And really, would it be so hard to get used to? Now, was his hair really black or was it some kind of midnight blue that just looked black? No she decided, when he sat down again with his T-shirt in one hand. More like it's so black that it has navy highlights.

"So, um, how are you finding having flame-brain around all the time? He can be a complete mooch."

Lucy blinked and reddened slightly. She'd been staring again.

"Oh, yeah, I wish he'd come in by the door, you know? But on the whole it's not as terrible as it could be, I guess. Though he tends to raid the fridge. Which is a real pain considering we never make as much from our jobs as we should, because we wreck things. Well, he wrecks things, and sometimes Erza and you do too. "

Lucy tried to look stern, but the way he ran his hand through his hair and looked away at her words made it difficult to be serious – he was cuter than she had realized. Come to think of it, he looked a little like Natsu when he did that. But less goofy. Anyway, Gray did "stern and serious" way better than she did, so her glare probably didn't work very well. He wasn't as good as Erza, though – Lucy figured that Erza had some kind of degree in "how to make people obey you with just one look".

"Yeah, it's a problem I guess," Gray muttered. "But it's mostly down to the fire-head."

"I thought you guys were friends? In a sort of 'friends who fight all the time' kind of way I guess. Like, you know, it's a guy thing. He's usually pretty nice, right?"

Gray shrugged and then a strange look came over his face.

"He's an idiot, mostly." He had raised his voice for some reason.

"Hey! Who are you calling an idiot, moron?" Suddenly the familiar pink hair was visible – Natsu must have walked up from behind Lucy.

"Um, that's a little harsh, don't you think, Gray?" Lucy asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, Gray! Listen to Lucy!"

Natsu was smirking and Gray immediately jumped up, tossing the T-shirt aside. He'd never actually put it back on.

Lucy hastily intervened to say that it wasn't any better for Natsu to call Gray a moron, but by that point she couldn't be heard over the brawl that was rapidly turning the vicinity into an alternately hot and cold war zone.

She reached out automatically as Happy flew over to her. The cat – the _blue_ , _flying_ , _talking_ cat – was adorable, and Lucy was determined to be great friends with him, even though he occasionally seemed to enjoy insulting her for no good reason. She thought maybe Natsu was a bad influence on the kitty, so she tried to spend as much time as she could with Happy when he was around with Natsu.

Lucy sighed. She still wasn't sure what she thought of Gray. When he wasn't brawling with Natsu, he was a smart, interesting guy. _And just a little bit hot, for an ice prince_ , an annoying voice in her head added. She told the voice to shut up.

"That's ENOUGH!"

Ah. Erza had arrived. The armored red-head swooped down on the errant Slayer and Ice-Make mage, but they'd already heard her. Before she could drag them apart, they each had an arm around the other's shoulders and were smiling – albeit unconvincingly.

"Hi Erza! How GREAT to see you today!" Natsu looked like he was gritting his teeth rather than smiling.

"Good afternoon Erza. You're meeting Lucy now, right? Don't mind us. We'll just go and be FRIENDS with each other somewhere else." Gray looked like his smile actually hurt.

"Yup, because we GET ALONG SO WELL that you can just tell how good FRIENDS we are," added Natsu, as he and his sparring partner did a kind of two-step toward the door.

Erza put her hands on her hips.

"No fighting!" she said emphatically, as they backed away with as much grace as they could manage.

Lucy had to let go of Happy, since he wanted to go after Natsu.

"Bye Natsu!" she called out, as Happy went to hover around his friend's head. "And, um, bye –"

But Gray was already through the door, dragging Natsu with him. He hadn't bothered to say goodbye. In fact, he ignored Lucy altogether.

Lucy was hurt.

"What's with Gray?" she grumbled to Erza, as the red-head came over to examine her cake.

Erza smiled, but didn't answer. Then she frowned abruptly and stood up.

"I'm going to get more cake. I don't want them to run out while I eat this piece. I'll be right back."

Lucy nodded. Since it was Erza, she didn't make the obvious point that it would probably only take her about two minutes to eat the first slice. Her eyes went back to the door and she sighed.

"For a few minutes there I thought maybe he liked me…" she whispered to herself. "But I guess not."

* * *

Outside, Gray had shoved Natsu away and stalked off to his own place. Natsu was puzzled, but eventually gave up on trying to continue their fight. He might as well go take a look at the job board anyway. Lucy kept muttering about her rent and how they never made enough on their jobs.

Gray stalked into his apartment, a loft bedroom over a decent-sized living room and kitchen. He slammed the door behind him and threw himself moodily into a big overstuffed chair. The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees.

"Gah!" He dropped his head into his hands. "For a few minutes I thought she was actually interested… but then it's all about _Natsu_ this and _Natsu_ that. And she totally defends him and not me. Probably too interested in Happy to notice what's going on anyway… So of course she says goodbye to _Natsu_ and not me. Why did I even bother looking for her this afternoon anyway? Of course she'll fall for Natsu."

He unconsciously brought his hands together, and ice started to form.

"I just wanted it to be me," he whispered to himself.

* * *

 _End_

* * *

 **So, Day 1 posted only 2 days late!** But I have been working on my Hakuoki fic as well. ~(^u^)/


	2. Déjà Vu, or Seeing Things

**GrayLu Week 2016 Day 2**

 **Prompt:** **Déjà Vu**

Still two days behind. But will catch up shortly!

Because I forgot last time... Standard disclaimers apply. **Meaning that I don't own Fairy Tail, which is sad.**

I also don't own the unnamed samurai game and anime referred to in this story. ;)

I hope you enjoy the chapter! And I appreciate all reviews, comments, faves and follows - or just having you read my work. \\(^u^)~

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Seeing Things  
Fairy Tail University, Part I**

* * *

Once upon a time, there was a courageous and beautiful Celestial Mage named Lucy Heartfilia. Although she was admired by a number of handsome and talented men, the hero who eventually won her heart was Natsu Dragneel, the pink-haired Slayer who eventually overcame his inability to recognize adult relationships and went on to become one of the most powerful members of the guild Fairy Tail. This story is not about them.

* * *

Lucy had been excited beyond words to be accepted at Fairy Tail University in Magnolia City. The University occupied most of the northern end of the city, with the oldest buildings occupying the land overlooking Lake Sciliora. Lucy was a transfer student, one of the few accepted directly into second year at the University on the basis of magical potential, good grades, and prior studies. Fortunately for her, she was a gregarious, pretty and warm-hearted young woman, and she generally made friends easily.

It was strictly a matter of good luck, however, that she had met one of her classmates while on her way to the University. Although she hadn't been sure what to make of the quick-tempered, but cheerful Natsu Dragneel when she had first spoken to him, Lucy had generously paid for his lunch when it turned out that he had run out of money. His table manners had been terrible, but two important things had come out of that meal: first, she had made friends with Natsu's constant companion, his blue, flying, talking cat, Happy; and second, Natsu and Happy had invited Lucy to join an elite team of upper year students who regularly participated in magical challenges either against other universities, or against actual magical threats that the University's Master deemed appropriate to the level of the students.

Technically, Natsu was the leader of the team; however, a large part of the team's power, and most of its organization, were provided by Erza Scarlet, a third-year student with exceptional magical and physical strength. Erza was said to be a direct descendant of the legendary (and many said entirely apocryphal) Erza "Titania" Scarlet of the original Fairy Tail Guild that had preceded the University. The other member of the team was the serious and unsmiling Gray Fullbuster, whose Ice-Make abilities and apparently cool personality made him the exact opposite of the excitable and literally fiery Natsu. Gray's one strange quirk was that he tended to take off his clothes when he was under pressure – Lucy had no idea why.

As Lucy got to know her team-mates and classmates better, she began to realize that although Gray was in some ways the person she knew least among those she considered her friends, he was most often the person that she went looking for when she just wanted to sit and study, or needed a break from the craziness of the dorm's common room. The odd thing was that she had no idea how he felt about having her show up at his apartment from time to time or settle down near him in the library.

Of course, Natsu had a tendency to orbit around his team-mates on a regular basis, and once he had been kicked out of his own apartment for having set the place on fire one time too many, he frequently came to stay with Lucy. She had protested loud and long that a co-ed dorm didn't mean guys and girls sharing the same room, but Natsu had just looked at her blankly. Lucy's room had been meant to be a double, but there was a spare bed and desk because her room-mate had never shown up; naturally, Natsu had looked upon the situation as an invitation from fate that it would be foolish to resist.

Naturally, everyone assumed that Natsu was Lucy's boyfriend, and she took a lot of teasing, but the truth was that Natsu was singularly unaware of relationships between the sexes. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that he seemed to be ignorant about relationships _involving_ sex, regardless of gender. It occasionally made for awkward situations, since although they weren't romantically involved, Natsu would quite happily knock somebody across the room if he thought that they were making Lucy uncomfortable. As Lucy was an attractive and friendly young woman, this had in fact happened a couple of times, which had effectively limited the number of men willing to approach her as word had gotten around.

It didn't really matter, though. By the end of her second month at FTU, Lucy was coming to the uncomfortable conclusion that the person she really wanted to go out with was Gray, and he seemed to view her as nothing more than a team-mate who he cared about but "not in that way". Not that he ever said anything about it one way or the other.

It was about three weeks later when the team went on its first serious mission. They had been doing very well in the regular challenges against other schools, despite the fact that Lucy's powers as a Celestial Mage still weren't up to the level of the abilities of her companions. Consequently, they'd been allowed to choose a challenge from the notice board, and Erza had made sure to pick something with a reasonably good pay-out: there were financial rewards as well as course credit bonuses for successfully completing challenges.

It was morning on the second day of their trip, when the team found themselves with some free time on their hands. Erza had immediately elected to go shopping, declaring that it was nice to be out of Magnolia City, and the guys had headed off in different directions. Since Lucy had gone with Erza, by ten-thirty she found herself sitting outside a café guarding a table, a large slice of cake, and several bags, while Erza ran into "just one more store".

Lucy was sipping pensively at a cup of green tea with lemon when a shadow fell across the table. Looking up, she was surprised to see Gray. He pulled up a chair beside her and nodded to the slice of cake.

"Waiting for Erza?"

Lucy nodded mutely. She always seemed to get tongue-tied in Gray's company these days. As usual, she found herself admiring his tousled black hair and deep blue eyes… and it was difficult to ignore, _since he was shirtless again_ , that his lean body was mostly made up of corded tendons and well-defined muscles. For some reason, Lucy wondered how he would look with FTU's signature crest imprinted on his skin, which is what they had supposedly done back when Fairy Tail was a guild rather than a school. She suddenly felt a disconcerting sense of déjà vu, as if she had sat with Gray before like this, waiting for Erza – and something had gone wrong.

Alarmed by the strength of the feeling, Lucy blurted out the first thing that came to mind:

"So, did you see Natsu and Happy while you were looking around?"

It seemed like a reasonably innocuous question, but for some reason she felt as though Gray – who had been about to speak, it seemed – drew back from her. She didn't imagine the slight drop in temperature as the blue eyes flicked to her face and then away.

"I think Natsu was checking out the local manga and anime store," Gray replied, so calmly that she wondered if she'd been wrong after all that he was upset. "He's hoping to find an anime collection about some old-world samurai who fought to the bitter end of some terrible war and all died in the process. I'm not sure why he wants it, though – it doesn't seem like his thing."

Lucy, still unsettled by Gray's unexpected presence so close to her – where was Erza anyway? – reacted more defensively than she usually would. Personally, she had enjoyed the anime, which was apparently based on a video game that had not yet been released in Fiore. She'd watched the movie version with Erza, but Lucy was sworn to silence on that matter.

"Well, maybe he doesn't turn his nose up at the romantic warrior ideal of fighting to the death to keep your promises and to protect the people that you love. And… there's a lot more battles and strategy and stuff than you would expect from an anime that everyone thinks is really aimed at women…"

Gray was staring at her, apparently dumbfounded.

"You think that Natsu is _romantic_? Although… I guess he probably watched the anime with you, right, since he stays with you all the time these days?" It seemed as though Gray wanted to add more, but he pressed his lips tightly together and looked away.

Lucy felt that same bizarre feeling of déjà vu, even as she started to sense a pit opening in front of her. Could Gray… possibly… be jealous? And what could she possibly do to sort things out? Because if he wasn't jealous, and just wanted to be friends, then confessing how she felt would just put a strain on the team – and the team was really important.

She found herself staring at Gray's chest again, and she had to blink this time to get rid of the overwhelming feeling that there should be a blue crest just _there_ , on his chest just below his right shoulder. Her fingers brushed bare skin and she jerked her hand away.

"What the hell?!" Gray jumped up so fast that his chair overturned. He had his left hand over the spot that she'd touched and she could see ice crystals forming.

Lucy's cheeks were flaming red; she could feel the burn… so to speak. She looked down and saw that her hands were trembling. And something else. On the back of her right hand she could see a crest just like the one she kept imagining on Gray except pink. She shook her head and the image faded.

When she looked up, now shaking a little, Gray was standing not far from her, his arms crossed tightly over his bare chest. His face looked controlled, rather than calm – and he was down to his boxers. For obvious reasons, Gray favoured dark boxers that could be taken for shorts in a pinch. Lucy had a momentary vision of Gray without the boxers and felt her cheeks go scarlet again. To quote Gray: _What the hell?!_

Gray was watching her in total silence, his uncertainty communicated more by the lack of clothing and the occasional snowflake than anything else. Lucy was just letting her mind ramble off on a tangent – _did he condense the water out of the air?_ – when a cheerful voice interrupted her thoughts. Sadly, it wasn't Erza.

"Hey Lucy! I found the DVDs! They didn't have the bluray though…" Natsu paused in mid-speech.

He looked from Gray to Lucy, his brow furrowing. Happy flew over to Lucy, who reached up automatically to give the cute blue cat a hug.

"Good anime, is it? Roman- _tic_?" Gray's tone was definitely snide.

"Look, stripper, it's good stuff and if you've been giving Luce a hard time over it I'll burn you right here and now!"

 _It's happening again_ , Lucy thought. _Whatever_ it _is_. She hovered on the verge of telling Gray to stop insulting the anime and Natsu, but something made her bite back the words. It had taken almost three months, but she was slowly learning that things went better when she didn't interfere. Part of the problem was that she usually only got to say one thing before the inevitable fight broke out, so that whoever she supported first became completely insufferable and the other guy just got angrier.

"Good luck with that flame-brain! I'll freeze you solid. You have no control and less common sense. Plus, you're rude. We were having a conversation until you showed up."

"As if! You really suck at talking to Luce! You've been making her feel bad for weeks going all dark and broody and silent when she's with us! Emo-ice-prince! It's a good thing she had me around to make her feel better."

With a wordless snarl, Gray threw himself at the pink-haired Slayer. Natsu dropped his purchase and met Gray halfway with a fist lit up with fire.

Lucy gaped. For some reason, it had gone downhill very fast. She'd heard about the rivalry between the two – they'd been competing since grade school. But at the same time they were really good friends. Until now. As far as she could tell, they weren't holding back much, which would be a disaster really quickly unless –

"OH FOR THE GODS' SAKE!"

Erza arrived. She dropped two more bags beside the table and hurried over to where the street was beginning to buckle, as the air and earth couldn't decide between blast-forge hot and deep-freeze cold.

"That is ENOUGH!" Erza shouted.

Neither of the guys wanted to stop, but their fear of Erza's retribution overcame their desire to punch the living crap out of each other. Lucy drew a deep breath of relief. Then the weird déjà vu hit again. For just a moment she was convinced that Erza should be wearing armour – like, actual metal armour – instead of the silvery, flexible combat jacket that she favoured. The modern armour would stop a bullet and even protect Erza from a certain amount of magical damage. It was damn good stuff. Lucy had no idea whether the equally silvery metal armour – a cuirass? – would do any real good. It looked impressive though.

She blinked and the image faded. Her eyes strayed back to Gray, and sure enough, she could once again see the dark blue Fairy Tail crest imprinted on his chest. Lucy's heart gave a strange lurch. What the hell was wrong with her? This time she deliberately tried not to blink. For some reason, lean, muscled, serious-faced Gray wearing the blue mark against his tanned skin made it difficult for her to breathe. She had never felt like this about any man - had she?

* * *

 **Note: Well, it got longer than I'd planned for, but hope you're intrigued! Stay tuned for Chapter 3 - Prompt: Letters/Notes.**

Thank you for reading! This story is also being published on Tumblr (account is also Impracticaldemon).


	3. Set in Paper

**GrayLu Week 2016 Day 3**

 **Prompt: Letters**

Only one day behind now! I hope you enjoy the second half of this part of the overarching story.

\\(^u^)/

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – Set in Paper  
Fairy Tail University, Part II**

* * *

The team was standing outside a café in the town where they were conducting their first real mission together. After almost three months of nothing but inter-university challenges, they'd been given an honest-to-goodness assignment – a chance to win both fame _and_ fortune – and now this… The street was buckled and pitted from Gray and Natsu's (mercifully brief) fight. Not all of Erza's shopping had survived, though, and she wasn't happy about it. Mind you, at least they hadn't fried, or flash-frozen, Erza's giant piece of cake. Lucy shuddered at the possibility. It had been a bad enough – and weird enough – morning as it was.

Erza was lecturing the two guys about the evils of blowing up or damaging things while the team was out on a mission.

"We're supposed to responsible, _adult_ mages! Couldn't you two just, I don't know, _arm-wrestle_ or something?

"Sure thing Erza! No problem! Right Gray? Uh – Gray?"

Natsu was obviously worried about what Erza would do when she found out that one of her shopping bags was smouldering.

"Sorry, Erza. I'm going back to my room." Gray turned to Lucy as if to say goodbye, but instead he just stared at her for a minute and then stalked off down the street toward the hotel.

"Man… that was seriously rude…" commented Natsu. "I should go talk to the guy…"

"NO!" said both women in unison.

Happy gave an annoyed "hey!" from where he had curled himself into Lucy soft chest. Looking down, it suddenly occurred to Lucy that maybe… _if_ Gray had meant to say goodbye… and _if_ he was actually interested in her… then seeing Natsu's pet cuddled against her breasts might have upset him. Damn.

There was a sudden wail from Natsu.

"Aw man! My DVDs! And most of the guys' faces have melted right off the front cover!"

He showed the heavily damaged DVD case to the two women. Erza gave him a sympathetic, but distracted nod.

"I need another slice of cake," she announced. "And don't think I didn't notice what you did to my new clothes, Natsu. When you go replace the DVDs, you can pick up the movies for me if they have them."

Natsu gaped at her: "You mean _you_ like Haku- argh!"

"No. Of course not." Erza looked perfectly calm as she made her sword disappear again. "But bring me the movies. Lucy – watch what's _left_ of my shopping for me, please."

The pink-haired Slayer went off grumbling, Happy hovering around his head occasionally saying "Aye, sir!"

He left Lucy holding the DVD case. The one image still mostly intact showed a young man with dark, midnight blue – or maybe indigo? – hair and serious deep blue eyes. Huh. It was her favourite character. Apparently she went for a certain type… She sighed.

"Hey Erza!" she called after the red-head. "You bought some really cute writing paper earlier – can I use a couple of pages? I really need to write a quick letter to somebody… Just to clear something up."

Erza looked back over her shoulder, and the impression of silvery armour seemed stronger for a second or two. She gave Lucy a knowing look.

"No problem, Lucy. I got it for you, anyway. Just had the feeling that you might want some…"

Lucy shot the statuesque red-head a grateful look.

"You're amazing, Erza, thank you."

Her friend and senpai went into the café, and Lucy found the writing paper and fished a pen out of her purse. She realized that it had chibi versions of her favourite anime character on it, and that made her smile. Fortunately, her seat at the outdoor patio table was currently in the shade, so she was able to push her sunglasses up onto her head. Now… what to write?

After thinking for several minutes (and not noticing that Erza had tactfully failed to return), Lucy put the date, the time and her location – "the café down the street from the hotel" – at the top of the letter. Now, what was the most important thing she wanted to convey?

* * *

 _Dear Gray,_

 _I'm sorry things went a little strangely this morning._

 _This is embarrassing to write, but for some reason I feel like it's important to straighten things out with you this way – in writing, without other people showing up and maybe giving you the wrong impression. So here goes. I don't have any kind of romantic relationship with Natsu. He's one of my best friends and he insists on sleeping at my dorm more often than I'd like, but that's it. I'll always try to be there to back him up, but that's because we're friends and team-mates._

 _The only [x-ed out "person"] guy I want to spend more time with and get to know better is you. I hope that doesn't make things weird between us? (I'm completely embarrassed now, so I really hope this letter actually does some good.)_

 _About this morning… For some reason I've been thinking a lot about the original Fairy Tail guild. Back then, the mages always wore the Fairy Tail mark somewhere on their body. I have no idea why, but this morning I kept having these weird visions of you having a dark blue FTU crest on your upper right chest. So if you thought that I was staring at you, then that's part of it._

 _If you want to get together some time, could you let me know? If not, please forget that you ever, ever got this letter. (I know, "as-if" right?)_

 _Lucy_

* * *

She couldn't figure out how to sign her name. "Yours truly" or "Yours sincerely" sounded too formal (plus the first one sounded too much like "truly yours", which was a bit much). "Affectionately yours" and "Love" were right out. After considering several options, she skipped them all and just wrote her name on its own.

She wondered if she would have the guts to deliver the letter. As she was sitting there staring at it, Erza came out of the café. She smiled when she saw the letter.

"All done, then? Shall we go back to the hotel? We should make sure that Gray's ready to have lunch and head out on the part of our mission. I don't want to leave the Tear of the Horribly Mutilated Death God in the hands of evil mages any longer than necessary. Here, I'll take that for you."

Before Lucy could protest, her letter in its pretty matching envelope was whisked off the table and into Erza's personal silver and red purse (guaranteed to be fire- and water-resistant, as well as bullet-proof). Erza smiled at Lucy.

"Don't worry, I'll deliver it as soon as we get in."

"That's what I'm worried about. I like my anxieties to age a bit…"

"Interesting idea, but no. I need you ready and back in the right headspace two hours from now."

Lucy nodded obediently. It had been a foregone conclusion, really.

So she had to make sure things were okay with Gray within the next two hours? That seemed like a pretty tight deadline. It was too bad that none of her spirits were particularly well-versed in human relationships.

Much like her.

Lucy went up to her room to change. It had the featureless, beige and brown of hotel rooms everywhere, but she didn't mind. She kicked off her sandals and stretched out on the bed. After a while, she held her arm up so that she could see the back of her right hand. There was nothing there of course.

A few minutes after that – maybe twenty minutes after they'd gotten in – there was a tentative knock on her door. That meant it wasn't Natsu: he'd have tried to walk straight in and then complained about the door being locked. Her heart started to pound.

"Just a sec! Who's there?"

"It's Gray." She couldn't read his tone.

She jumped up and straightened the light comforter, then took a deep breath and unlocked the door.

"Hey." Gray was standing just a little back from the door, looking wary. Remarkably, he was fully dressed. "So… can I come in?"

"Sure." Lucy wasn't sure what to think, but she stepped back and then closed the door after him. "Um, do you want some water or something? I know we're having lunch soon…"

 _Great._ She was babbling. She looked around vaguely to make sure that she hadn't left any clothes lying on the one comfortable chair.

"Oh!" She couldn't repress a slight cry of surprise when she turned to see Gray rapidly strip off his T-shirt and toss it unheedingly onto the floor.

Gray froze at the sound and immediately looked down. "Damn. Sorry, Lucy."

He picked up the shirt, looked at it blankly for a moment, then folded it neatly and set it on the small coffee table.

 _Okay. He's in my room, he's taken off his shirt and he looks… really, really good. He wouldn't do all this just to tell me that I'm nuts or something, right?_

Gray cleared his throat. The necklace he always wore moved a little, catching the light.

"So…"

"So?"

"Thanks for the letter."

When he didn't add anything, Lucy huffed out a short breath and tried not to get annoyed. Hadn't she done enough already to make things work – if they were going to work?

"You're welcome."

"… I really suck at this."

"It depends what you're trying to accomplish," Lucy replied a little snarkily. She closed her lips on what she had been going to say next because it wasn't all that nice.

"Yeah, I know. Like, if I'm trying to come across like an idiot then I'm doing great, right?"

He smiled wryly at her and she laughed.

"That was pretty much it. Sorry."

"Not your fault. Anyway, what I wanted to tell you – one of the things – is that I wasn't just freaked out at Natsu this morning. This is going to sound completely ridiculous, but… I kept imagining a crest on the back of your hand. Right hand. Pink."

Automatically, they both looked at the back of her right hand, but it was bare and nothing happened.

"I saw that too, though," Lucy reassured him. "So it's definitely not just you. That's wild. I wonder what Erza will say? Heck… maybe we should tell the Master back at the FTU…"

"Lucy, right now I'm just glad I'm not the only one seeing things. And also, I'm glad you're not actually, um, you know… seeing Natsu."

Lucy barely heard the last two words, since they were spoken so softly.

"I think I can safely say that right now I'm seeing a lot more of _you_ than any other guy," she deadpanned.

Gray actually cracked another smile.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But…" He closed the distance between them and put his arms very carefully and loosely around her shoulders, watching her carefully to make sure it was okay. "You never complain. Not really. In fact, you seem to like what you see – I think?"

Lucy was suddenly feeling both warmer and slightly cooler at the same time. It was an interesting sensation, but one that she'd appreciate more if she could breathe.

"Not fair. I never know what you're thinking."

"I thought you were falling for Natsu. I didn't like it, but I didn't want you to feel like being on the team was a problem. I mean… He's always staying with you, you adore Happy, and you two are always chattering on about life, school, the latest anime – you know?"

"Oh yeah? What about you? You've flirted with half the girls we've seen when we've been out doing challenges! You smile at them and then go all quiet when I'm around – I mean, seriously?!"

The Ice-Make mage turned a little pink at that. Probably because it was true.

"To be fair…" he began.

"… they were the ones flirting with you, I get it. But to be _fair_ …"

This time, Gray laughed and put his fingers gently against her lips.

"I know. Natsu was the one who always wanted to stay in your room, and since I was barely even speaking to you at that point…"

Lucy grinned against his fingers. She liked where this was going. A lot, actually. But there were formalities to be observed after all. Especially since they seemed to have a knack for misunderstandings.

"So, what did you come to tell me, exactly? That you were jealous of Natsu? Or that you were seeing things?" Her words came out a little garbled, because his fingers were still there, but she knew she'd conveyed the message.

Gray grimaced and drew a deep breath. He put both arms back around her shoulders and his dark blue eyes looked steadily down into her brown ones.

"I figure if I'm holding you then I'm less likely to take the rest of my clothes off, which might be awkward. So, um, yeah. Right. … I like you a lot Lucy. I was hoping maybe we could go out together and see how things go."

Lucy covered herself with shame by squeaking as if she were a schoolgirl. Since dignity had flown out the window anyway, she buried her head against his chest, right where she'd seen the blue Fairy Tail mark. _Finally! She'd been wanting to do this for weeks now._ Gray responded by pulling her in closer, which made her a little dizzy, but definitely in a _good_ kind of way.

"I'll take that as a yes," he murmured in her ear.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed this story arc. Off to Chapter 4 - Prompt: Drunk**

All reviews, favourites and follows are much appreciated or just send a PM with a comment if you prefer! :)


	4. In Vino Veritas

**GrayLu Week 2016 Day 4**

 **Prompt: Drunk**

 **And now back to Fairy Tail Guild, where an easy job leads to exciting results... so to speak. ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – In Vino Veritas  
Fairy Tail Guild, Part II**

* * *

The next time the team got together for a job, Lucy smiled brightly at Gray, determined that she wouldn't let her feelings get in the way of developing strong friendships with all her team-mates. Besides, she'd gone over all of her impressions from the last few weeks, and she had to admit that there wasn't much to go on. _On the other hand…_ There were no good explanations for last week's behaviour that made sense other than jealousy. Being an optimist, she decided that it would sort itself out.

* * *

Gray felt a certain amount of apprehension as the team boarded the train for one of the more distant towns. He'd known that Lucy would probably go for somebody fun and cheerful like flame brain, but he'd at least had the sense (and the guts) to try to talk to her one-on-one and gauge her reaction before giving up. And… until Natsu had shown up, he'd thought that maybe he had a chance after all. He could see now that he'd just been suffering from an unusual fit of optimism. It was time to face the facts and get used to being a good friend and team-mate – and nothing else. But Natsu always got sick on trains – hell, he'd get sick on a donkey cart – so he'd probably rest his fluffy pink head on Lucy's lap for the trip… Ugh.

* * *

Lucy and Erza boarded together, chatting as they went up the steps and along the car to find seats.

"You'll see what I mean in a minute, Lucy," murmured the striking, scarlet-haired woman.

"But he always gets sick," Lucy protested. "He must expect it by now!"

"Uh-huh." Erza stowed her hand luggage, a mere leather hold-all and two suitcases, onto the metal racks above the seats. Train conductors and station staff simply did not argue with Erza.

Just then, the guys came down the aisle toward them. Gray had his usual half-serious, half-wary look, but a slight quirk at the corner of his lips suggested that he was trying not to laugh. Natsu was definitely not laughing.

"Erza, wait up! I just remembered how much I hate trains! I was thinking that I'd just –"

Lucy rolled her eyes and Erza smirked, an unusual look for her. To Lucy's shock, Erza feigned understanding, and then knocked the Fire Slayer out with one precise strike. She lowered him quite gently onto a seat by the window, taking the seat beside it and settling his lolling head with its extravagant pink mane onto her lap.

"B-but… what?!"

The Requip Mage smiled kindly at Lucy, who suddenly realized that the Guild's leading female warrior had just arranged things nicely so that Lucy would spend several hours sitting in close quarters with Gray. It dawned on her that Erza had probably been speaking with Mirajane, Fairy Tail's most fervent match-maker and a long-time friend of the red-head's.

Lucy barely restrained herself from a totally understandable face-palm. She heard Gray clear his throat from behind her.

"Would you prefer the window or the aisle? Either's good with me."

His face and voice were studiously neutral. On the other hand, he'd already misplaced his t-shirt. Oh wow. Was she going to have to sit beside a half-dressed Gray for five or six hours? The seats weren't especially roomy either.

"Um, Lucy?" She could see a bit of colour creeping into the other mage's face, and realized that (a) he'd just discovered that he'd lost his shirt, and (b) she'd been staring at him again.

"Right! Yes! I'll take the window seat if that's okay with you."

Lucy scooted into the far seat and tried to look out the window as Gray settled himself in beside her. If he'd been as big as some of the other Fairy Tail men, like Laxus or Elfman, their shoulders would have practically been touching. Lucy tried to be alarmed by the prospect of spending so much time just inches away from Gray, but failed. She then had to do her best to ignore Erza's slightly smug expression, which wasn't much easier. Lucy felt like sticking her tongue out at the other woman, but didn't want to have to explain her motivations.

Once the train had gotten underway, Gray had tracked down his shirt. He hadn't put it back on, though, on the basis that the carriage was hot and stuffy. He had looked pointedly at Natsu.

Lucy mostly believed his excuse, but she wondered if maybe he just liked the way she looked at him when he wasn't wearing a shirt. Of course, he might just prefer to walk around half-dressed.

Eventually, Lucy got tired of polite monosyllables from Gray, who seemed distracted, and went back to looking out the window. Erza had taken out a book, which appeared to be absorbing all of her attention. At some point, Natsu had gone from being unconscious to being asleep, but either way he was drooling slightly, which Erza seemed prepared to overlook for some reason.

As time wore on, Lucy started to slump. Eventually, she curled up against the window and started to drift off; however, she started imagining how much better it would be to curl up against the man beside her, and then had to tell herself off. She had apologized in advance to Gray, in case she was restless in her sleep, but he had shrugged and said that he would be fine.

"Lucy?" Gray said softly, just as she was about to fall asleep.

"Y-(stifled yawn)-yes?"

"There's a good pub in this city we're going to… I was thinking that unless we end up working tonight, maybe we could go check it out?" There was a hint of anxiety in Gray's usually even tones.

Lucy suddenly felt less sleepy. Was he asking her on a date? Or at least a sort-of date? She hesitated, not wanting to freak him out by being too enthusiastic if she had misjudged, and he decided that she was really weird to get so worked up about going out for a couple of drinks with a colleague…

"It's no big deal," Gray told her after a moment, obviously taken aback by her panicked silence. "I just thought, since you've never been to the town before, you might want to see the place a bit…"

Lucy just knew that his next words were going to be along the lines of: " _Don't worry, we'll ask Erza and Natsu to come too._ " That's not what she wanted. Out of nowhere, she remembered sitting at a patio table outside a café, writing a letter to Gray. She hadn't wanted there to be any more misunderstandings. Except… Lucy knew that she'd never written a letter to Gray. But she could clearly feel the need to…

"… _speak now or forever hold your peace_ , as the saying goes," she muttered.

"What?" asked Gray, confused. He continued: "I was just going to say –"

"Yes, the pub sounds great and I'd really like to go with you," she interrupted him. Lucy put as much warmth into her voice as her courage would let her. If Gray thought that she was being strangely enthusiastic, then so be it.

She peeked sideways and accidentally met his eyes, which were the darkest midnight blue that she'd ever seen. And suddenly there was another strange memory _that wasn't a memory_ , and she found herself reaching out to run her fingers over the blue mark on Gray's chest. For a moment she even felt herself being held in his arms, her head against his chest – and then self-preservation kicked in and she yanked her hand back as though it had been burned. Gray was staring at her in surprise.

"I'm so sorry! I don't know what I was thinking!"

Argh! What a stupid thing to say! She waited for the wisecrack about how it was obvious what she'd been thinking and so on.

But the Ice-Make Mage just looked at her oddly and shook his head.

"Um, that's okay Luce – I mean, a little weird, but don't worry about it."

Lucy pressed her burning cheeks into the cool glass of the window and tried not to remember the feeling of being held in strong arms against a lean, muscled chest. It seemed unfair that it was so hard to forget something _that hadn't actually happened._ Unfortunately.

After a while, she really did fall asleep.

* * *

When Lucy woke up, she wasn't surprised to find her head resting comfortably on Gray's shoulder. It was a lot more comfortable than the window.

"We're almost there," he said neutrally. "I'm afraid you kind of… fell over onto me. I hope your neck isn't too stiff."

Lucy automatically massaged her neck, but it was fine. She tried not to think about how rumpled she probably looked.

"Anyway, it's time to wake up the world's most annoying pink-haired man."

Lucy couldn't help it – she laughed. "How many pink-haired men do you know?"

"Just one. That must be why I haven't killed him yet – he is also the _least_ annoying pink-haired man I know, so it all balances out to a kind of _meh_."

The Celestial Mage's hopes for the trip started to rise again… Sure, he could just be bantering with her as a friend and colleague… but maybe not! Lucy was nothing if not determined.

* * *

The pub was crowded and a bit loud, but it covered up the slight awkwardness of being out alone with Gray for the first time. The job had gone well – especially since Lucy had taken down two of their opponents who had tried to sneak away once Erza, Natsu and Gray started taking apart their leaders, not to mention their base of operations. Of course, Happy claimed that he had done everything himself, but that was normal.

It was too bad that one or two (or three) of Natsu's wilder attacks had burned the top off the City Hall, but at least Gray had made himself popular by putting the fire out quickly. Lucy could still picture him as he calmly used precise ice attacks to quench the flames.

Erza had made Natsu's property damage the excuse for not allowing him to go out drinking with the other two, telling him that she wanted him where she could see him and where he couldn't cause more harm to their reward money. Not surprisingly, Natsu was sulking. However, knowing Erza, she would eventually relent and then go out with Natsu for a few drinks and several desserts. They might or might not see her later.

"I decided to bring over a bunch of different things to try," Gray called over the music, as he set a tray down on the tiny wooden table that they had to themselves in one corner. "I hope there's something you like!"

"This'll be fine! When does the music start?" Lucy picked a glass at random and sipped at it. _Not bad_. _Okay, now to have a good time with the guy I've got a crush on_ without _getting drunk and making an idiot of myself_.

"In about thirty minutes. How's the beer? Most of the ones I brought over are made here."

They talked about the beer and today's battle, and Lucy made a point of not mentioning Natsu too often. It wasn't really a problem, though. She was a bit of a lightweight when it came to drinking – even beer – and by the time the music really got going she was feeling distinctly buzzed. Gray had gone back to the bar for more drinks, even though they still had a couple of tall glasses left of some kind of dark, fizzy stuff. He'd made her promise not to start without him.

When he got back, the small tray had shot glasses as well as a pitcher of the local beer that Lucy had liked best. Lucy laughed at him.

"Trying to get me drunk?" she asked quizzically.

"No – well, sort of I guess." Gray turned a little pink at that. "Anyway, the dark stuff in the tall glasses is double-distilled apple brandy and a light beer. They call it shandy, but honestly, the stuff has a crazy kick. I wanted to get us refills before things get EVEN NOISIER."

The band had moved on to a couple of fast numbers, which were definitely on the loud side. Lucy moved her chair closer to Gray's – so that she could hear him, of course. Apparently, Gray had the same idea, because they ended up colliding. Gray managed to keep both of them from falling over, but somehow ended up with an arm around Lucy's shoulders.

They tried the so-called shandies next, and Lucy decided that the stuff tasted great. She recognized that she was quickly going from buzzed to intoxicated, but it all tasted really great. Besides, she seldom got _really_ drunk, and she wasn't going to have much more.

Gray tried to say something to her, but she just shook her head at him and giggled. He grinned at her, reached over, and pulled her into his lap. As his shirt was long gone, this seemed like a brilliant idea to both of them. She _loved_ the feeling of his skin against her bare middle. In a fit of wild optimism, and knowing the man's tendencies, she'd worn a very short, sleeveless top and an ever shorter skirt. _Mira would be proud of me_ , she thought hazily… Lucy was pretty sure that she wasn't misreading any cues _now_. She wriggled a little closer.

"So! How do you like it so far?" Gray asked, putting his lips against her ear – to be heard, of course.

Lucy discovered that she couldn't respond right away, as Gray's soft breath in her ear was making her a little dizzy – unless that was the alcohol. His left hand was holding her tightly against him, her back to his chest. His right hand had started running along the exposed skin of her right thigh. Lucy felt tingles spread all along her nervous system. His hands were cool and warm at the same time – the flesh and blood was warm, but there was just a hint of frost over it too, as if the Ice Make magic was lying just under the surface.

In the end, she didn't bother answering the question; she just gave him a lazy – probably drunken – smile, and leaned back into him even more. She'd never sat with a guy like this before, but she was pretty sure that he was more than a little turned on at this point.

Gray moved his hand off her leg long enough to finish another drink – the table was now littered with glasses – and then he put his lips to Lucy's ear again.

"You may have guessed this already…" he said quietly, pausing to run the tip of his tongue along the inside of her ear, "… but I really like you." His words were barely slurred, despite all the alcohol that he'd had – and he'd definitely had more than she had. "I thought…" now his left thumb was softly caressing the soft skin of her bare stomach, "… that you liked Natsu… and I almost screwed things up by just, I don't know, giving up I guess…"

Gray stopped and leaned his forehead against the back of her shoulder; he could smell some kind of citrus-y shampoo in her hair and the light rosewater perfume she seemed to prefer. She had gorgeous hair.

"Mmmm… What changed y'ur min' ice prince?"

Lucy giggled softly when Gray reacted to the nickname by huffing in mock-irritation into the back of her neck. When he started to tickle her, though, she protested:

"…'s better than ice _princess_ right? Am I right? Stop it – oi!"

She started to tumble off Gray's lap, and discovered that her limbs, especially her legs, weren't working at all well. Fortunately, Gray either had better reflexes or was more used to being drunk, because he caught her before she hit her head. He set Lucy back into his lap, but this time made sure that she was sitting across his knees so that he could see her face. Her cheeks were flushed, probably from drinking, hopefully from something else as well. He couldn't quite get over how soft she was – for somebody who could kick bad-guys like she did, anyway.

When Gray started nuzzling her neck, Lucy pushed at his head a little, eventually pulling his face up by curling her fingers into his hair. She liked his hair. Wow… she had really fallen for this guy… It was a little scary, but thankfully the alcohol was beating the crap out of her inhibitions.

"You di'n't – didn't – answer my question, Gray. Pay atten…tion." She was proud that the final syllable came out late but not slurred. She was done drinking, she decided. Whatever happened tonight, she wanted to be able to remember it properly the next day.

Gray wrapped his arms around tightly around the blond mage (mostly so that his hands wouldn't go where they might not yet be wanted… he could be patient, right?). The reason was ridiculous, but what better time to explain something ridiculous than when you were – just a little bit – drunk. Although right now he thought that infatuation and lust were giving the alcohol a good run for its money.

"Um… when we were on the train… I suddenly felt as if I was going to lose you… not just now but always… And then I thought I saw your Fairy Tail mark start to fade. It was weird. I mean, it was probably nothing, but it was a very _strong_ nothing, if you know what I mean. An' – _And_ I didn't want to be a coward."

To Gray's surprise, Lucy just looked at him with big, dark brown, _serious_ eyes. She nodded slowly (and very carefully).

"I believe you. Thanks for telling me."

She leaned forward and tried to kiss his forhead, but missed and hit her nose.

"Ow."

Gray laughed – Lucy hadn't realized that he could laugh like that – and then Lucy giggled.

"Let me try," Gray suggested, his own cheeks red with more than just alcohol. He could hear the slight roughness in his voice that was about something else altogether.

The dark-haired mage slid both his hands into the soft blond hair and pulled Lucy's mouth firmly onto his own. She twitched in surprise, but when he didn't let go she relaxed and then he could finally kiss her properly. He kissed her lips until they both needed air, and then he moved his tongue between her lips and licked the inside of her lips, and behind her teeth, and then further and further back until she started pushing back against him with her own tongue. Leaving one hand in her hair to keep her tightly against him, he snaked the other hand around her waist to her hipbone just beneath the waistband of her little skirt.

His mind was pretty clouded now, but he waited to make sure that she was comfortable with what he was doing, before going back to kissing her. _Oh dear gods, please let me not be too drunk to stop._ The thought kept running through his mind as he savoured the feeling of her lithe body pressed against his and her mouth on his and her hands that were now wound tightly into his hair.

"Hey – loverboy!" A rough hand shook Gray's shoulder and he immediately, if reluctantly, lifted his head to look up. He could just tell that he had the drunken, glazed look of a man who was half gone between alcohol and fierce desire.

"Yes?" he demanded, forming the word carefully with bruised and puffy lips. He narrowed his eyes at a sturdy man in a moderately clean white apron whom he vaguely remembered as the bartender and possibly co-owner of the pub.

The man studied him for a moment and then laughed.

"Look son," he said, in a slightly kinder voice, "do us all a favour and get a room will ya? My wife's not really one for such goin's on in the public drinkin' area, and your girl is barely half-dressed – not to mention you. Okay? Fair enough? You're them Fairy Tail folks right? I do rightly appreciate what you did for us an' all – especially you, son, puttin' out the fire like you did… But it looks to me like you've got a bigger fire t'deal with now, eh?"

The man couldn't quite keep a smirk off his face, but Gray decided that he couldn't blame him. Besides, what the hell was he doing necking with a drunk Lucy in front of a bunch of yahoos anyway? He nodded stiffly to the pub-owner and stood up, helping a protesting Lucy to her feet – and helping her stay on her feet.

He made sure to leave a decent tip on the table, then guided Lucy back through the streets to the inn where they were staying. She kept trying to tell him something, but he wanted to get her back to her room. When they got there, Gray had to fish her key out of her small purse and then help her inside to her bed. She flopped down gracelessly and smiled dreamily up at him.

"So, does this mean we're going out now, Gray?" she asked sleepily, her cheeks still flushed but her eyes half-closed. "Like… as a couple?"

"Uh, yeah – I hope so. Otherwise I've gone to all this trouble for nothing…"

Lucy laughed happily – and a little bit drunkenly too.

Gray knelt carefully beside the bed, because he really wasn't sure what would happen if he just crawled in beside her. But he could guess. They'd have to talk about that. His conscience cheered him on, and his libido rolled its eyes and demanded a retrial.

"Okay, tha's good Gray… really…"

Beautiful, adorable Lucy looked at him and smiled, her lips swollen and a little bruised from kissing _him_. He smoothed her hair back from her forehead, but couldn't resist running his other hand across her soft belly, which made her shiver slightly and giggle. With as much control as he could muster, he gave the red, inviting mouth a last kiss and then got himself out of the room as quickly as he could manage without making her feel badly.

"G'night, Luce," he said at the door, leaning a little on the frame.

"Oh… goodnight, Gray… Thanks… see you tomorrow…"

Gray closed her door gently behind him and walked away.

* * *

Sorry it's late! Stuff happened... And then it got much _longer_ than I'd planned! But I hope you enjoyed the fluffy GrayLu goodness... (grin)

 **Many, many thanks to all those who have sent me encouragement here and on Tumblr. Just knowing you're reading and liking is great!**

All reviews, favourites and follows are appreciated, or feel free to send me a PM or message on Tumblr (Impracitcaldemon).

~ImpracticalOni (it's a Hakuouki thing, don't mind me ;)


	5. The Power of Love

**GrayLu Week 2016 Day 5**

 **Prompt: Breakdown**

 **And now we go to Fairy Tail Guild Mark Zero, where a wonderful, terrible spell goes awry...**

I hope you enjoy this tale of love (and breakdowns) transcending the centuries!

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – The Power of Love  
Fairy Tail Guild Mark Zero**

* * *

 **~ A History Lesson ~**

The first Guild Master of Fairy Tail was a girl named Mavis Vermillion. At the age of thirteen she tried to use the prototype spell Law and although it achieved its end, Mavis was cursed not to age. Sometime after this, Mavis founded Fairy Tail Guild along with her three friends and followers: Yuri Dreyar, Warrod Sequen and Precht Gaebolg.

The Guild lived through turbulent times, and about ten years after Fairy Tail was founded, Mavis Vermillion died – or rather almost died – leaving Precht Gaebolg as its second Guild Master. In his grief over Mavis' death, Precht encased Mavis Vermillion in a giant lacrima – a pure crystal with Mavis' body at the center that eventually became the awesome magical artifact known as Fairy Heart. Fairy Heart was, and remained, a secret known only to Fairy Tail's Guild Masters for over a hundred years, until the advent of the legendary heroes Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Erza "Titania" Scarlet, and the mysterious Lucy Heartfilia.

What Precht never told his successor, Makarov Dreyar, was that the spell he used to contain Mavis' body in the lacrima required significantly more power than he had at his immediate disposal. Therefore, he had used forbidden magic to draw magic from two other time periods. In both time periods he had foreseen mages of exceptional power. Moreover, both time periods contained a static, predictable point: the union of two extraordinary mages with the ability to preserve a soul indefinitely, one within living ice and the other within the magic of the celestial sphere. Their union and subsequent children were probability points so stable as to be "visible" even from several centuries away in time.

This is the untold story of how the forging of Fairy Heart both threatened and restored those legendary, twice-born mages Lucy Heartfilia and Gray Fullbuster.

* * *

 **~ The First Breakdown ~**

The breakdown came just as the spell around Mavis' inert form was stabilizing. Precht was a brilliant mage, but he was weary from grief and a long war, and he quickly discovered that his first probability point, and by far the closest and strongest source of power, was not as stable as he had believed. In fact, because of his linking spell, the second probability point was actually drawing power from the first, causing the first point to destabilize further. As bizarre as it seemed, Precht was going to have to take some kind of steps to protect the relationships of his chosen mages in both future times.

After studying the matter carefully, the Guild Master redoubled the links between the two future times, hoping that the ultimate effect would be for each relationship to stabilize the other. The perfect result would be two strong, stable unions at both of his target points and then the birth of a child to fuse the abilities of the parents into the crystal-soul energy that Precht needed to preserve Mavis within the giant lacrima that he had created.

As a final precaution, and believing firmly that the Fairy Tail guild-mark would be preserved in some form in both the near and the distant future, Precht tied his spells at each point into that image. He couldn't know how it would all actually work, but with any luck, the guild-mark would let the four young mages know if or when there was a problem and allow them time to resolve it. At the very least, identifying themselves with the mark would bind them more closely to Precht's overarching spell.

Ultimately, Precht felt little remorse at having bound four young, unknown lives into a dangerous and untried spell. In his view, anything was worth the chance to preserve Mavis Vermillion.

* * *

 **~ The Second Breakdown ~  
** **Fairy Tail Guild**

The whole team travelled home by train late the next day, their mission successfully accomplished with the exception of a few burns on Lucy's legs that Gray insisted on looking after. Lucy had already discovered earlier that going out with Gray had this significant advantage: he made a mean ice pack when you had a hangover from apple brandy shandies.

Erza eyed them with interest and seemed to be pleased that they were becoming closer despite their rough start. Natsu and Happy complained that Gray was hogging Lucy, who should be hanging out with the whole team equally. Once again, Erza looked after Natsu on the trip home.

Only three hours into their six-hour trip, there was the screeching of metal and the whole train started to sway violently. It remained upright, however, and once Lucy was sure that they were out of real danger she was able to enjoy having Gray's arms around her. In any event, the engine had well and truly broken down, so the passengers piled off and looked for places to stay nearby. Natsu firmly announced intention of walking the rest of the way to the guild.

Gray drew Lucy off to one side.

"I got permission from Erza to spend a couple of nights here – well, with you – to do some shopping and maybe have a vacation. I mean… if you want."

He looked adorable, Lucy thought: he didn't want to push her too fast (although this was moving pretty fast!) but… he really wanted her all to himself for a while, which wouldn't happen back in Magnolia at the guildhall. Lucy felt her heart beating faster.

"Are you sure?" she finally asked, trying to read his face.

"It depends what you mean, Lucy. I am sure that I want to take a vacation with you. And I will admit right now that my motives are not entirely pure." He slid his hand down her side and over her hip and she got goosebumps. "Anyway, the question is really whether _you're_ sure, you know? News gets around, eventually."

Lucy grinned at him. So this really _was_ a romantic get-away for the two of them. Wow.

"I can be ready to go in about ten minutes. I'd be there sooner, but I need to get my suitcase from the baggage car."

And so, just a few minutes later, Lucy and Gray left Natsu and Erza arguing about the best way to get home to the Guild. Erza won.

* * *

 **~ The Second Breakdown ~  
** **Fairy Tail University**

Lucy and Gray didn't make a secret of how they felt about each other, so Erza and Natsu (and Happy) weren't surprised when they elected to rent a car and drive back to the university on their own together. Natsu seemed slightly put out when Lucy told him that he might have to curtail his visits to her dorm room from now on; he just couldn't or wouldn't believe that some things changed when two people became a couple. In particular, they might be a little more sensitive to their partner's insecurities and they might have more need for privacy.

The first hour of the trip back to Magnolia City and FTU had gone by very quickly for Lucy and Gray. Lucy was by far the more talkative of the two, but Gray liked to listen to her and as he relaxed he contributed more to the conversation. The rental car was well-equipped with modern conveniences, so they were able to plug in their dataphones and share their music with each other. Gray laughed when he found out that the reason that Lucy had so many of his favourite songs on her dataphone was because they reminded her of him. Lucy was embarrassed, but she didn't mind as much when she saw a rare look of sheer happiness on Gray's face.

They had just gone from discussing music to some increasingly unsubtle flirting when Lucy saw it again.

"It's back! Look!"

Grey was already having difficulty concentrating on the road thanks to Lucy having unbuttoned her white blouse further down than usual (in retaliation to him struggling out of his T-shirt _while driving a car_ ). Nevertheless, he peeked over quickly. Sure enough the pink FTU crest was once more on the back of Lucy's hand. It didn't come as a surprise - although it did impair his driving even further – when Lucy traced a pattern on the right side of his chest.

"So mine's back too?"

"Yep!" Lucy looked at the mark thoughtfully. "You know, I think we should talk to Master Makarov about reinstating the old tradition. I mean – it's not like a tattoo, because it's done with magic. Or at least it used to be. And it could fade, even, if you let your connection to the old Fairy Tail Guild fail."

Despite the fact that he was driving a rental car on an unfamiliar road while trying not to get so turned on by his new girlfriend that he couldn't see straight, Gray allocated a few brain cells to considering this idea.

"Okay – and by the way, it's a little geeky for you to know all this history – cute, but geeky… damn what was I saying?"

"I think that you were going to talk about history," Lucy said demurely, tucking a few stray hairs behind one of her ears. "And about the marks."

"Yeah… I was thinking that maybe, somehow, we're getting the marks because of the same magic. Like, we're being made part of the old Fairy Tail Guild. It's a crazy idea, what do you think?"

Lucy just beamed at him.

"I _love_ that idea, Gray! That would be so amazing... But it's not like we're doing anything even remotely connected to the old guild, right?"

"Well, if getting together with you is what old Fairy Tail wants me to do, then so be it. I am willing to sacrifice my body for the cause."

Lucy blushed deeply. But she noticed that when she managed to look back a moment later, the blue mark was still on Gray's chest, and it didn't look quite so insubstantial anymore.

"Lucy?" Gray was back to paying attention to the road now.

"Yes, Gray?" Lucy's eyes were still glued to the FTU crest on the Ice Maker's chest.

"When we get back… come over to my place, okay? Less likely that Natsu will show up at a bad moment."

"Will there be a bad moment for Natsu to show up?" Lucy teased, although she was suddenly feeling a little shy.

"I hope so. You?"

Lucy swallowed. She stared down at the pink mark on the back of her right hand. It didn't seem to be fading either.

"Yeah… I hope so too."

Two minutes later, the car broke down and came to an undignified – but gentle – stop on the outskirts of an old tourist town. Gray swore, but quickly recovered himself.

"I guess old Fairy Tail is against us after all, eh Luce?"

Lucy shook her head and pointed. Ahead of them, they saw a beautifully restored, old-style house with "Bed & Breakfast" artistically lettered on a sign hanging near the wooden front gate. In bigger letters, the sign also read: _Fairy Tail House_.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I really hope you've enjoyed this little flight of imagination! If you have a moment and feel so inclined, please post a review or send me a comment to let me know what you think!

I hope you're looking forward to **Day 6 - September 6 - GrayLu Day!** Things could get very hot...


	6. Get a Room!

**Chapter 6 – Get a Room!  
Fairy Tail University, Part III  
**Rated "T" Version** - If you believe that more should be removed, please send me a PM. :)**

 **CoverArt** courtesy of **whitefoxie** on tumblr!

* * *

 **~ Fairy Tail University ~**

They left the rental car where it had died (or at least fallen dangerously ill), and walked slowly over to the gate of the bed and breakfast. Sure enough, the sign really did read "Fairy Tail House". Now that they were closer, they could see more lettering underneath that read: "Serving Mages for Over Four Hundred Years!"

"Holy shit," muttered Gray. "This place has been here since the original Fairy Tail Guild was around. This is… actually a little weird."

He had taken Lucy's hand when they'd abandoned the car, and he felt her fingers tighten on his. One bright side to being an Ice Shaper, he thought, was that you didn't get sweaty palms. Otherwise it might be a real problem right now, between being turned on thanks to the last half-hour in the car with Lucy, and just a bit creeped out by the fact that he was now sporting a dark blue Fairy Tail Guild mark on his chest.

"Gray? Do you have any idea what's going on?"

Lucy sounded more freaked out than he was. Of course, that could just be a case of him not knowing when to be properly afraid.

"None. But in the spirit of adventure and in keeping with our new designs," he tapped the back of Lucy's right hand with his thumb, "I think we should stay here."

Gray turned to face the lovely blond and kissed her softly on the lips. He felt his hormones kick it up another notch when he realized that from this close in he could easily see down her half-unbuttoned white shirt to her more than admirable, creamy breasts. She was wearing a silky bra in a soft, pale rose.

It was difficult to pull his eyes away, but he gave himself credit for doing it without being nudged or smacked.

"Gray?"

The Ice Shaper blinked, and realized that his T-shirt was lying on the ground beside him. Amazing. Now he knew that he could take off a T-shirt without breaking a kiss with Lucy for more than a moment. Good to know.

"What do you think, Lucy?" He kept his eyes fixed on hers and tried to resist running his hands down her sides.

They were on the sidewalk of a public street, and although it was rapidly becoming dusk, there were still people around. A light kiss wasn't too bad, but if they went farther than that then no doubt a second person would tell him to take his girl and get a room. _Except that nobody had – had they?_ Gray was momentarily very confused; he bent down to pick up the discarded shirt.

"Well, I guess you're right," Lucy said as he straightened again. She sounded more like herself again – more certain and a lot less nervous. "So, Mr. Fullbuster? Assuming that they're taking customers and they've got rooms, do we want one room or two?"

"Ah. Good question, Ms. Heartfilia. I know what I'd prefer, but I'm perfectly willing to get two rooms and decide later what we want to do."

Gray knew that his cheeks were unusually red, which was odd, since he was old enough and adventurous enough to have had some experience with adult relationships. On the whole, society was pretty laid-back about what people chose to do with each other if they were above the age of consent. What scared him a little – more than the strange Fairy Tail stuff – was that he'd always kept things fairly casual before, and he knew that he didn't feel "casual" about Lucy in any way. He was afraid to mess things up.

Lucy put her right hand on the gate latch, stepping gently away from him. The winged pink emblem seemed very clear in the evening light.

"One room sounds good to me too, Gray." She looked down at her hand, then back at her companion. "Unless you're worried that I'll take advantage of you?"

Gray shook his head. Once they had gone through the gate and closed it behind them, he put a strong arm around her waist and brought her back around to face him.

"Very much the opposite, as I think you've already figured out. But seriously, Luce, will you promise me that you'll make the right decision for you?"

"You're chickening out, ice prince."

Lucy laughed at the startled look on Gray's face. Her brown eyes were warm but there was just a hint of steel in them.

"Um… nice nickname… is that a new one that flame-breath has come up with?"

Lucy's brow creased.

"No – I've heard him use it before. Or I thought I had? But either way, if the slipper fits, Cinderella…"

"Hey!"

"Seriously, Gray, I understand why you're worried. And it's good not to take things for granted. But nobody can promise that they'll always make the right decisions – not for themselves or for anyone else. I learned that a long time ago. So… Could we aim for honest instead of perfect?"

Gray's dark eyes searched the pretty, innocent face that could look both childlike and fierce. _She's smart, she's tougher than she looks, and she wants you. Don't treat her like china, she won't appreciate it. You don't like to look weak, well neither does she_. He knew that she'd been struggling for the last two months not to consider herself the team's one weakness.

"Alright… I honestly think we should get a room here and spend the night together."

She met his slightly challenging look with one of her own and pressed her body against his, arms locked behind him, rising on tip-toe to so that she could reach his mouth with hers. Their lips met, their tongues met… he could feel her hips move against his and a slight ache as his jeans started to feel much too tight.

Gray had just dropped his shirt again when he had the strangest sense of déjà vu – strange because he still couldn't remember the first time.

"You two ever hear the expression ' _get a room_ '?! Because it looks to me like it's that or a fine for indecency. If you'd prefer the cops, just let me know."

The voice – youngish and female – sounded annoyed and amused at the same time. Lucy gasped and whirled around, beet red and frantically trying to do up a couple of buttons. Gray grabbed his shirt off the ground and thanked all the gods that it was almost twilight. He fought to stop panting.

"Ah… yeah. Yes. We'd like a room. If you have one available?"

"Sure, come inside. Are you from FTU? I don't see as many from there these days."

Gray, still a little flushed (and still shirtless), followed the woman inside. The house was clearly very old, but Gray wasn't enough of a history buff to know how old. When the woman went into a small office and took a seat behind a very modern-looking desk, Gray took one of the visitor's chairs and Lucy sat primly in the other. Gray was grateful that he could fold the T-shirt over his lap.

"I'm Mary Jane Stross. You can just call me MJ if you make it down for breakfast or if I see you around this evening… which I doubt."

Their hostess had bright blue eyes and long white hair that she kept out of her way with a number of brightly-coloured clips. Gray had no idea how old she was. Her face was young but her eyes and voice… weren't.

"Names please?"

They went through all the usual process of checking in, although it seemed a little old-fashioned compared to the electronic processes at most decent hotels. MJ didn't ask what kind of room or rooms they wanted. Instead, she conducted them briskly up a flight of stairs and down a hall to a very pretty round room with an oversized bed and its own bathroom. Apparently, this was the Tower Room.

"It actually is a tower, although a small one," MJ explained. "But I use the two upper floors as display rooms and storage.

Apart from her annoyance when she'd interrupted them in her front garden, MJ seemed very nice. Lucy, who had finally recovered her countenance, was chatting away happily as MJ checked that everything was in order.

"Oh, and what about a garage for the car?" Lucy asked at the end.

"I'd be happy to leave a message for somebody now," MJ offered. "If they know it's for one of my guests and that you're from FTU I'm sure they'll help out."

"That would be great, MJ – thanks!"

Gray, who standing a few feet inside the room watching the women chat, walked forward and silently handed over the key remote for the car. He knew that Lucy had a key remote as well, but he didn't want MJ – however kind – to have to stay and wait for Lucy to track the key down inside the purse inside her tote bag.

Finally, MJ put a hand on Lucy's arm, and Lucy gave her a rueful smile.

"I know I'm chattering – I'm just a little mortified over what happened earlier."

"It's fine, Lucy, really. But I have a feeling that your boyfriend is waiting eagerly for me to leave - he's trying to be polite but he really doesn't look very happy, does he?"

Gray started, waving a hand in negation.

"It's fine, um, MJ – I was just thinking about something else."

"Mm-hm. But my windows don't normally have frost until late November and I think the room temperature's dropped a couple of degrees. Ice Make mage are you?"

"Well, yes, although most people say Ice _Shaper_ now, to be honest." Gray grinned for a moment. "I think it changed when the ice mages got tired of people asking if they could be installed in a refrigerator. Personally, I like the sound of Ice Make mage, but I'm in a minority."

"He's also the best ice mage in a very long time," added Lucy proudly.

MJ gave the young Celestial mage an understanding look, but laughed:

"Then I'd better leave you to warm him up don't you think? Goodnight, Lucy. Goodnight, Gray. Oh – and just one thing that I've been curious about, if you don't mind?"

"Sure," responded Lucy promptly. Gray tried not to look impatient, which was probably a lost cause.

"Has FTU decided to go back to using Guild marks for students? I didn't think anybody had those anymore." MJ gestured to Gray's chest and Lucy's hand.

"We're trying them out," Gray said neutrally, before Lucy could start explaining.

MJ nodded, but Gray had the impression that she wasn't convinced. Either way she smiled and nodded at them once more and then went out into the hallway with a wave.

"Goodnight MJ!" called Lucy, as the door closed firmly behind the pale-haired woman.

Gray locked the door and dropped his T-shirt onto a chair. Then he crossed the floor to Lucy and put a hand under her chin.

"I won't ask for promises this time – at least, not like I did earlier. I'll just try to be honest with you. But if there's something wrong at any point, please tell me, okay?"

"I will," Lucy said softly.

"In that case…" Gray said equally softly, but without hesitation, "…we have some unfinished business."

"I agree."

* * *

 **X [M Content Removed Here] X**

* * *

"Thank you." Gray's voice still sounded rough, but it was filled with a kind of wonder. "I didn't want to say it before – I didn't want you to think it was just a line – but I love you, Lucy, very much."

She turned her head sideways to look at him, brown eyes still heavy-lidded.

"You're incredible. And I love you, too. I didn't say it before because I didn't want you to think that I was trying to pressure you into saying the same to me."

Satisfied both physically and emotionally, they lay in silence again for a while. Then Gray got up and padded into the bathroom, bringing back a washcloth soaked in warm water.

"I'll clean us up a bit."

Lucy watched, occasionally still twitching slightly, as Gray gently washed them both. There was a sense of ritual about it.

However, he looked a little embarrassed when he came back from tossing the washcloth into the sink.

"It probably seems silly to you, but I wanted to do this. So that we could curl up together and not feel… messy."

The blond Celestial mage just nodded understandingly. Then she smirked.

"All part of the service?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He smacked her shoulder, very half-heartedly, then lay down and pulled her against his chest in a spoon hug. They arranged the covers over themselves, and settled down to nap.

Just as Gray was drifting off to sleep, he heard Lucy's voice, very low and a little tentative.

"Gray?

"Yes, Luce?" He could hear that his voice was blurred with drowsiness.

"Can we do that again sometime?"

Gray opened his eyes and tugged at Lucy until she turned over and he could see her face. Her blond hair fell in tangles around her shoulders, and Gray could see his love bites marking her on one side of her neck and across both shoulders. He felt simultaneously remorseful and a little proud. He also made a mental note to loan or to buy her a scarf.

"Well, that's the hope, Luce. Have some pity, though – at least give me a few minutes to recover. Sheesh."

The world was a very good place to be after all, he thought. He had noticed, though, when he went into the bathroom, that the Fairy Tail mark was still there and appeared if anything to be darker. Oh well. He thought it looked pretty good.

* * *

 **A/Note:** And so... Thank you as ever to all those who read this piece, and please remember that it is Chapter 6 of a 7-8 chapter story!

All **reviews, Faves and Follows** are much appreciated! You can also send me a PM here or a message on Tumblr (also Impracticaldemon).


	7. A Magical Vacation

**Author's Note:**

And now, the **stunning conclusion** to this **epic tale** spanning from the **founding of Fairy Tail Guild** to the exciting secrets of its natural successor, **the prestigious Fairy Tail University!**

It's even being published on the right day, **September 7, 2016**.

This has been a wild ride...

* * *

 **GrayLu Week 2016 Day 7**

 **Prompt: Undercover**

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – A Magical Vacation  
Fairy Tail Guild, Part III**

* * *

The train station was perched just up from the water in the outskirts of the town itself. Leaving Natsu and Erza to their debate over transportation, Gray and Lucy hurried away from the non-functional train and into a quiet, obviously newer part of town. The houses here were large and well-maintained, and Lucy slowed as she looked around her.

"What is it?" asked Gray quizzically. He was still trying very hard not to grin continuously at the prospect of two days alone with Lucy as a couple.

"I just… like it here. I don't know. It's as if I've been here before – which I haven't, before you ask. For some reason, I feel happy and energized just being here."

Gray transferred a bag into his right hand and slid his left arm tentatively around Lucy's waist. She didn't seem to mind and even seemed to snuggle closer. Gray was feeling happy and energized as well, but his thoughts were tending a lot more toward the possibility of taking Lucy to bed, which bothered him a little. He was very much interested in her in that sense, of course, but what had drawn him to her in the first place was the determined, positive, and friendly attitude that she took toward life and everyone in her life. So… it was a bit disappointing to discover that he was just like most of the guys who hit on Lucy – excited by her amazing face and body, to the exclusion of other things.

Suddenly, Lucy swayed and came to a stop, dropping the small case that she'd been carrying.

"Gray… Help me… It hurts – Gray!"

Gray caught her as she collapsed and held her against his bare chest (he must have stripped off his T-shirt, but he couldn't think of when). Lucy was shaking, eyes wide and frightened.

"I feel… as if something is dragging my magic out of me… and look, Gray, look at my mark!"

He looked as instructed and saw that the pink Fairy Tail guild-mark on the back of her right hand seemed to be… fading?

"Is everything alright?"

An elderly woman was peering at them over the gate of one of the nicer houses.

Not being like Soot-for-Brains, Gray didn't yell at her. She looked harmless and she wanted to help. He wouldn't shout at her for asking dumb questions.

"No, um, ma'am. I think my… my girlfriend is sick. Can you direct me to a healer?"

The woman directed a suddenly keen glance at the two of them and opened the gate.

"Mages are you? And those are Fairy Tail marks, I think? You might as well come in – I'm a healer, or I was until I retired."

Something in the woman's brisk tone reassured Gray, and he hurried up the path to the house after her, although he was still more than a little wary. There had been way too many strange things going on lately. Lucy didn't protest; she seemed only half-conscious.

The woman directed Gray to a room that had obviously served as an examination room before, although it was far more comfortably furnished than most and… cozier. He carefully laid Lucy on the bed – which was a normal bed, just raised off the ground – but then took her hand. She was trembling, and her palms were slightly damp. She seemed to relax a little at his touch.

"I'm Mirianna Stross, by the way," said their hostess, as she took Lucy's temperature. "Who might you be? I'm afraid I haven't kept up with Fairy Tail as much as I once did."

"Oh – sorry Stross-sensei. I'm Gray and this is Lucy. Thank you for helping us."

"Hmph. Let's find out if I can help first. Do you always take your clothes off like that?"

"What? Oh! Sorry, sorry, sorry..!"

"It's alright. I hear that's part of how they train in the north… at least the good ones. Besides, I don't mind looking at an attractive young man from time to time."

Gray dragged his pants back on in record time.

"So, about Lucy, is she sick?"

The woman shot him a sharp look from clear blue eyes. Much to his surprise, she brought her hands softly together and murmured a word or words that he couldn't understand. The glowing circle – in white – was familiar, though. The woman was a mage… He felt his stance shifting so that he was more battle-ready.

"She's not sick, just drained. Do you know who did this to her?" The elderly mage – Stross-sensei – ignored his reaction and seemed to be studying Lucy. "It's very rare magic, and not… practised anymore."

"You're saying there's some evil mage hurting Lucy? Do you have any idea where he is? Maybe Erza's still here… She may still be arguing with Flame-Brain! I'll bring her here to guard Lucy and –"

"Erza Scarlet? Titania? No, I don't think you need to call her." When he Gray started to protest, the healer interrupted him.

"First, the mage doing the damage may not be here physically – likely isn't, in fact; second, your friend Lucy needs your help now; third, it would be safer not to bring a very powerful mage like Titania close to the spell that's affecting your friend. It's already affecting you, you know."

* * *

Erza smiled to herself as Natsu stomped off down the road. He had a long way to go to get back to Magnolia Town, but he could always pick up another train if he got tired of walking. Meanwhile, she needed to check on Gray and Lucy. The nice thing about arguing with Natsu, she thought, is that if he suddenly won an argument he would take it at face value. Gray and many of the others would just be suspicious. She picked up her hand- luggage (two suitcases and a large satchel bag) and looked for a place to store it. Seeing an inn up ahead, she stopped there and graciously allowed the proprietor to rent her a room.

Not long afterward, a woman in hakama (flowing Japanese-style trousers) and a short kimono stepped out into the open street. Erza had concealed almost all of her bright red hair under a scarf, and it did make a difference. Then she set out on her search for Gray and Lucy. She'd promised Mirajane that she'd bring back any interesting details about the two, and although normally incorruptible, she had been heavily bribed with promises of extra desserts for the next several weeks if her mission were successful. In any event, the danger was minimal – the last she'd seen of the pair, a blue flying elephant could go by and they might not notice.

A vision of Natsu with an elephant rather than a cat made her smile, and a middle-aged man nearby practically fell in love with her at first sight. Unaware of the effect that she was having on the local populace, both male and female, Erza sauntered up the street toward the center of town, asking about inns where the couple might be staying.

* * *

Mirianne Stross directed the dark-haired Ice Make mage and his fair-haired partner up a short flight of stairs toward the back of the house. The door she opened led into a beautifully furnished circular room. Gray, who was starting to feel slightly unwell but also increasingly uneasy, noted that the window was large enough to leave through, although likely one floor above the ground. There was one other door, but that likely led to a bathroom. There was one large bed, made up with several pillows and a comforter. He was suddenly conscious of Lucy in his arms and their original plans for the evening…

"It's my guest room," Stross-sensei explained. "I like my privacy, and I assume my guests do as well. I will find somebody to take a note down to the station in case Erza Scarlet is still there. For now, please listen to my directions – I assure you that they are important."

Gray swayed slightly but nodded. He felt the place where he wore his guild-mark prickling, and the slight undercurrent of panic strengthened. This was all… so coincidental.

"Once I leave, the best thing you can do is make … Lucy?... comfortable in bed and then stay as close to her as you can. You will strengthen each other the closer you are. She will recover. I will examine both of you again in two hours. In the meantime, I will see if I can trace back the spell to its caster."

"Will it be dangerous for you?" Gray demanded.

"It will not be without risks," Stross-sensei admitted. "But I don't expect any difficulty. Now, lie down before you fall over."

The healer left before Gray could find out more. Trying to be as… neutral… about it as possible (it wasn't), Gray loosened what he could of Lucy's clothes. He was starting to stagger far more now, so he stripped off his jeans, tucked Lucy into the soft bed and crawled in beside her.

 _This isn't quite what I wanted_ , he sighed. On the one hand, with his nearly naked body curled around Lucy, he couldn't help certain obvious thoughts. On the other hand, Lucy was unconscious, he was shaking, and they were under the care of a rather too-well-informed healer.

A few minutes later, Lucy woke up – at least partially. She seemed to find nothing wrong with the current situation, somewhat to Gray's surprise.

"Why'm I dressed and you're not?" Lucy asked.

"Well, you passed out. I didn't feel right just yanking off your clothes. You might have gotten wrong idea."

"Or the right one…" she smiled a little and snuggled closer.

"You're not well!"

"I feel fine. Good, actually. Don't you?"

"No! I mean –"

He did feel god. In fact, he felt pretty great. _What the hell?_ And then he became aware of a very strong desire to help Lucy get rid of the rest of her clothes. He ran his hands down her back pulled her closer. At the same moment, Lucy wound her hands into his hair and kissed him. Her clothes and underclothes were quickly discarded, and within minutes they lay twined together, both very much naked and aroused. It was as if every moment of lust was being replayed a hundred times stronger in his brain and nervous system.

He tried to push the haze out of his head, but between Lucy's kisses and the strength of whatever he was experiencing, natural restraint gave way completely to natural inclination. The last really conscious, self-directed though he managed, was: _Not this way… not this way!_

He must have said it aloud, because Lucy answered him, her voice a little huskier but very clear:

"But I want you, I do want you! And you want me… Please, Gray…"

After that, it was all sensation and a desperate need to bring their bodies as close together as humanly possible. Through it all, Gray had the oddest feeling of being in two places at once, and the overall effect was almost overwhelming in intensity. And yet… when they were done, and left breathless and clinging to each other in the tangled sheets, he noticed that Lucy no longer seemed so … faded. Also, their guild-marks were once more bright and clear and he no longer felt as if he were going to fall over. Well, except for obvious reasons.

Gray gently smoothed Lucy's golden hair. She was smiling at him, he saw, and no longer half-unaware. He felt his cheeks redden but didn't move.

"So, I guess this is what happens when two of the greatest mages and lovers of all time get together, right?" Lucy murmured.

"That was… a bit intense," Gray conceded.

"Well, I'm sure we'll improve on it with time," she smirked. "Though it might take quite a bit of time. And practice."

"Umm… Luce?"

"I know. Really. Or at least I can tell that there are things I don't know. But right now I'm just –" she stretched languorously," – I'm just happy. So let it be for a while, okay?"

"Fine. But not for too long, okay…?"

"Okay." Lucy turned over and curled her back against him. He obediently turned as well and wrapped himself around her.

Really, he had nothing to complain of right at this particular moment. And when they decided to examine the stranger aspects later, they would try not to let it affect the good parts.

* * *

Erza arrived at the healer's house just as the spell reached its conclusion. Even for the extraordinarily powerful warrior-mage, the swirling vortex above the otherwise attractive home was more than a little frightening. She only paused for a moment before pounding on the front door, which was opened almost immediately by the healer herself.

"Welcome, Erza Scarlet, called Titania," said the elderly woman, bowing deferentially. "They are safe, I promise you. Safe and well and also… pleased with themselves."

Erza tried to push past her, but was caught momentarily motionless in a web of light. She hadn't heard or seen the spell coming.

"You are undercover, you know, my dear. They won't thank you for interrupting them now. And the spell is done. For once, there is nobody for you to save."

"Show them to me," Erza demanded icily.

"As you wish, of course. But do try to be sensitive about it, please."

* * *

Much later, the so-called healer sat in her favourite chair by the fire and laughed. She had eventually been able to usher Erza Titania from the house, angry and worried and demanding answers, but deprived of anything to fix or to fight. They were all such children. After all, _she_ 'd been undercover for a century now, and would be for another several hundred years. Still, the child born from this union – from these unions – would be interesting indeed.

* * *

 **~ Fairy Tail Guild Zero ~**

Precht Gaebolg sighed in relief when the power flow finally stabilized again. There had been some kind of imbalance part way through. One of his four precious mages had unknowingly tried to take the whole burden of providing the demanded power onto him or her-self. He was glad that he had stationed his agent in place to correct the problem.

Once again, the personal consequences to the human mages – the Fairy Tail mages – involved only rated a passing thought. The only important thing was that the _Lumen Histoire_ , the pure lacrima to house Mavis Vermillion's body, could now be completed.

The Fairy Heart would exist.

* * *

 **~ Fairy Tail University ~**

 **~ One Year Later ~**

Gray watched as Lucy took down the last of the other university's team without even breaking a sweat. He was as deeply in love with her as he had ever been. The issue around the guild-marks had never been resolved. Periodically, they would be examined by one or another of the world's foremost mages, but so far nobody had been able to detect anything other than what they appeared to be: the basic, magical marking of a member of the original Fairy Tail Guild. Both he and Lucy were highly resistant to any idea of removing the marks.

For a short space of time, they had thought that Lucy might be pregnant, although it had seemed very unlikely considering the care taken with contraceptive drugs and spells. However, it had proved to be a false alarm. Gray wasn't sure how he felt about that. Having a child right in the middle of their university careers would have been incredibly difficult. Having a child with Lucy would be wonderful.

They ate dinner alone that night, since Lucy didn't feel like going out with their excited team-mates. Part-way through the meal, she leaned forward and reached for his hand.

"Gray?"

"Mm?" He put down his fork, since she looked so serious.

"I really am pregnant you know."

"What?!"

Lucy sighed.

"I've always known, to be honest. The woman who rented us the room that night explained it to me before we left. Well, not to say explained… But she told me what would happen."

"Okaaaay. And?" He knew that his face had frozen up as it sometimes did when he was trying to assimilate difficult information.

"And she said that the physical pregnancy would progress once I was willing to let it progress. I didn't believe her then, but I think she was right. You see, I need you to want this too. But you were so worried about things…"

"Mostly about you and how it would affect you," he interrupted, forcefully.

"Yes, but still. Anyway, I want you to think about it. I think we can handle this."

Gray studied her sitting there across the table from him. Finally, he gave her a slightly twisted smile.

"If the baby's born in late spring or early summer… yes, I suppose we could manage. I'll think about it."

Lucy grinned at him.

"Good. That means yes."

"What? No!"

"Dad."

* * *

~ **Fairy Tail Guild ~**

Unfortunately, the author was unable to find clear records regarding this part of the history of the now-legendary Fairy Tail Guild.

The author prefers to assume that Gray and Lucy were very happy together after their return to the guild-hall. However, as some readers may know, the history of Fairy Tail Guild after this becomes increasingly challenging to piece together.

* * *

 **Thank you to all who have read, reviewed, commented and Faved/Followed! That's it for me... at least for now.**

 **You may also** want to check out **inizhay** here on FanFiction, who was written some amazing pieces for GrayLu Week 2016.

 **\\(^u^)/**


	8. Special Deliveries (Prompt Fly)

**GrayLu Week 2016 Bonus**

 **Prompt: Fly**

 **It's still September!** And I've really wanted to write the epilogue to my overarching story for GrayLu Week 2016. So here it is, along with the prompt "Fly".

 **NOTE:** The other two bonus prompts "T-shirt" and "Vintage" were originally also here as stand-alone chapters 8 and 9. However, it was pointed out to me that generally only one version of a story should be on Fanfiction. So I left the stand-alone stories as separate stories and deleted (former) chapters 8 and 9.

This is the **True Chapter 8** of the "story" **Graylu Week 2016** as whole.

Thank you for reading and for all your support here and on Tumblr! All reviews, comments (PMs here), Favourites and Follows (author and story) are greatly appreciated always.

 **\\(^u^)/**

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 **Chapter 8 – Special Delivery** **  
Fairy Tail University, Epilogue**

* * *

 **[I]**

The baby was due in late May, which meant that if all went well, Lucy wouldn't be too tired for end of year exams in April. Gray Fullbuster, dad-to-be, still shook his head occasionally over the fact that Lucy claimed that the baby had been conceived during those strange few days when they had both acquired their old-style Fairy Tail Guild marks, well over a year ago. After all… the normal gestation period for a human baby was nine months. Still, she seemed very certain about it, and he was open-minded enough to go with it.

They had already discussed logistics, and especially money. As Lucy had said when she first told him about the pregnancy, they would work things out. They had also received an unexpected legacy that would help significantly. Apparently, the woman who had taken them in – and who had told Lucy about her unusual pregnancy – had sold Fairy Tail House shortly after they had stayed there and left them all of the proceeds from the sale. It amounted to a substantial legacy and for a while they had been worried about the implications. Specifically, what had they done to deserve such a gift? It surprised neither of them when their benefactor couldn't be found.

* * *

 **[II]**

It was Christmas of third year, their first holiday season together. They had moved into the small but well-proportioned two-bedroom apartment after their second year. Gray had wondered about the expense of the second bedroom until Lucy had told him about the pregnancy – four months after they had moved in. It was one reason that he kept an open mind.

He was just touching up the frost decorations on their large front windows when Lucy arrived back from an afternoon out with friends. He had seen her coming up the walk to the building and had been downstairs to let her through the security door before she could fumble for her keys.

"Welcome back, Luce. How was the hot chocolate and gossip?"

Gray bent down to kiss the pretty blond woman standing on the front step, indifferent to whoever might see them. He had become a great deal less shy about demonstrations of affection once they had returned from their strange adventure. It was as if he felt a degree of certainty about the two of them that precluded embarrassment. It had stood him in good stead two months before, when they had announced Lucy's pregnancy.

Lucy pretended to pout at the question, but her large, dark brown eyes were sparkling and her return kiss was as warm as ever. They walked up the stairs to their second-floor apartment hand-in-hand.

"The hot chocolate was good, but the gossip was even better. And I stuck to cream instead of brandy in my hot chocolate, don't worry."

"I wasn't worried about what _you_ would do – it's what Cana would do… I mean, she's powerful and all, but she drinks an awful lot for somebody who's only just finished her doctorate. She's lucky she got to stay on as a post-graduate; usually they make people go elsewhere."

"I kept an eye on Cana. And I know you're right. But anyway… it looks like there might be something between Levy and Gajeel, wouldn't that be crazy? I mean, she's the world's biggest bookworm and he looks like a thug…"

"He _is_ a thug," muttered Gray, who still didn't trust the newest transfer student to Fairy Tail University.

"Maybe," Lucy agreed peaceably, as they walked into their apartment and Gray locked the door behind them. "But Levy doesn't think so."

Gray helped her off with her jacket and took her gloves. Not that it was really all that cold out, especially for Gray, but he liked to be careful with Lucy's health.

"Gray… I feel fine, I am fine. Stop fussing." Lucy was grinning at him. "I'm pregnant, not ill or hurt. I felt lousy for a while, but that's not really unusual. I'm not even showing…"

"Yes, you are."

"Well, you see me with a lot fewer clothes on!"

"I should hope so…" Gray finally cracked a smile. "Okay, I'll try to stop _worrying_ but it's difficult, so no promises."

With typical cheerfulness, Lucy kissed him again, stretched briefly and then sank gratefully into one corner of their big couch, tucking up her feet and still talking.

"I do understand, Ice Prince, I really do – hey! That looks great!" She smiled excitedly at the half-complete frost decorations.

"Thank you, _dear_ , but you know how I feel about that nickname… seriously…"

Ignoring him, Lucy smiled brightly and settled back further, putting her feet into his lap when he sat down next to her.

"Yes, you do seriously amazing decorations." Lucy giggled and then sighed as Gray gave up the battle over the hated nickname and rubbed her feet. "Oh that _is_ nice… You know, I can't believe we almost didn't get together last year. This is so much better."

She did get tired a lot more easily these days, Gray thought, noticing that her eyes were closing. He hoped that was normal. He was discovering that he was less and less worried about how they were going to cope with a baby and school and money, and more worried about how Lucy would do with the pregnancy. He told himself that this was perfectly normal – his fretting – but he knew that he was more worried than most guys because of the strange conditions under which this baby was conceived. _If_ the kid had been conceived last fall, which was still a little hard to believe.

Once Lucy was asleep, Gray idly finished his design on the windows – from the couch – and then carried his sleeping girlfriend to bed for a nap. He'd wake her up later in time for dinner.

He wavered a moment once he had her tucked in. It would be so easy to climb into bed with her. But he had papers to mark. They had both taken on extra work – like marking first year assignments – in order to supplement their income as much as possible. Lucy hadn't yet noticed that he had started doing some of her grading for her, so that she could get more rest.

An hour later, Lucy padded up behind him and dropped a kiss on his head. When he tried to get up, she just shook her head at him, holding him down in his seat at the table with a light hand on his shoulder.

"Either you decided to goof off and started on your stack of papers late – or you did half of mine again first. I'm betting on the second one…"

He smiled up at her a little sheepishly, running a hand through his already disheveled hair.

"I thought you hadn't noticed."

"Hah. I know. Which is why tonight I'll cook, finish up the chores and then do whatever marking _we've_ got left, okay? One thing I found out this afternoon… why didn't you tell me that you've stopped going out with the other guys?"

"Just tired – a little – that's all. And you know me – when I'm tired, Natsu totally gets on my nerves and then we break things."

"Uh-huh. Well, you're going out tonight, so try not to break anything. It's a Christmas party for the senior teams, which includes Team Natsu. Which you didn't tell me about."

Gray scowled.

"Not my thing, Luce."

"Liar. You may not be as… outgoing… as Natsu can be—"

"For which you should be grateful—"

"—but you've been working too hard and not seeing your friends. And what about me?"

"I knew you'd be feeling too tired tonight anyway, Lucy, and I really don't feel like going if you're not there."

"You don't like leaving me on my own."

"That too."

"Well, you're going."

Gray got what Lucy called his "NatLax look", which was her shorthand for saying that he looked as stubborn as Natsu planning to fight Laxus, _again_ – even with the near certainty of losing, _again_. Not surprisingly, the Ice Make mage hated "NatLax" more than "Ice Prince".

Two hours later, Gray had bathed, eaten, been kissed by his devoted mate… and was heading into the Christmas party at the Senior Teams Practice Club. He'd put up a good fight until Lucy had threatened to have Erza come and get him. But he'd made Lucy promise to send one of her spirits – _other than Loke_ , he'd specified – if she ran into any difficulty. As if she wouldn't anyway.

* * *

 **[III]**

A couple of the older graduate students had helped Gray back to his place sometime long after midnight. Ironically, after all the fretting – _worrying_ – he'd done that afternoon, Gray had let Cana slip something into one of his drinks. Or something. All he knew was that he'd had a surprisingly good time, despite missing Lucy. He'd chatted and played pool with some guys he hadn't really seen in a while, and had eventually had way too much to drink. He'd have to find his clothes tomorrow.

With slurred thanks to his benefactors, he used the key on his necklace to unlock the front door (a brilliant notion of Lucy's, that one), and then made his way carefully up the two flights of stairs. He was surprised to see Happy – Natsu's blue, winged, talking cat – in front of the door to the apartment.

"Wass'up, Happy?" He focussed a moment longer on the valiant – and sometimes irritatingly sarcastic – creature. "An'why'r'you… white?"

"Typical. Males of any species are idiots. Especially that blue male cat you call 'Happy'."

"Huh?" Gray leaned against the wall beside his door, puzzled.

Just then, the door opened and Lucy peered out. She was wearing a long nightgown, in deference to the cool weather, but it still managed to look sexy to Gray, whose eyes were drawn at once to the soft, white skin below her collar bones.

Lucy smothered a yawn, and then stared at the white cat, which was standing upright with its arms – forelegs? – crossed.

"Um, Gray? I thought I heard your voice. I'd just gotten up to go to the bathroom… Um – excuse me, but who are you?"

Gray became even more confused.

"You know who I am, Luce! You jus' called me 'Gray', right?"

"Not you, imbecile. Why you males choose to destroy what few brain cells you have with alcohol is beyond me."

Given that Cana spent half her time either drunk or near-drunk these days, Gray felt that this was unfair, but he couldn't seem to get the words out.

"Won't you please come in," Lucy said politely – to the cat. She eyed Gray with some amusement. "You too, Ice Prince."

"Awwww, Luce…"

Gray refused to go to bed while there was a strange… cat… in the apartment, so Lucy tucked him into the big overstuffed chair that he preferred when they weren't cuddling. She also gave him a large glass of water to sip. The white cat – who probably wasn't Happy – took the other end of the couch from Lucy.

"I see that you have not had your kittens yet, Ms. Heartfilia,"the white cat said conversationally.

"N-no. Would you please introduce yourself?"

"Oh, yes – of course. You just look like somebody I know very well… I am Charla. I'm here to deliver a package to your kittens."

"Well, um, that's very kind of you but… from whom? And what is it?"

The white cat looked dubiously at Gray, but then sighed and reached into a messenger bag that Lucy hadn't noticed it was carrying. The cat was dressed in an attractive dark pink outfit with a matching pink bow on its tail, and the bag was similarly adorned.

It rose and came over to Lucy.

"These are for the children born of two times, Ms. Heartfilia. In thanks for what you and your mate did for us without even knowing the danger or the cost."

The white cat bowed stiffly, but not mockingly. In Lucy's hands were now two largish eggs that looked nothing like chicken eggs – or anything like other regular eggs.

"Keep them secret, keep them safe. Remember – these are for the kittens, not you!"

"T-thank you… Charla. But what are they?"

The white cat suddenly grinned. "You'll find out. But we wanted the children of Lucy-sama to be able to fly."

Gray was feeling slighted. Fortunately, all that came out was a wordless growl.

"I must be off now," the strange white cat said firmly. "Remember, keep the eggs warm, safe and near you if possible!"

"Um… alright. But I still have lots of more questions."

"Don't worry, there will be two when it matters. I don't really understand time theory myself though. Look after them for both of you – that is, look after the kittens and the eggs for the sake of both the Lucy-samas. All clear now?"

"No."

Gray's reply was mostly inarticulate and definitely louder. It incorporated bad language.

The white cat ignored both of them. Then it unfolded white wings and wafted itself up toward the ceiling.

"Goodbye! Thank you for your help with the Fairy Heart!"

Then it just faded from view, leaving just a grin. A moment later, the grin was gone.

"I feel either more sober or more drunk. Did that really happen?"

"Of course it did," Lucy sighed. "This is us. I'll let everyone know tomorrow that we're expecting twins."

"But we're not!"

"Not yet. But in May, we're expecting twins."

Gray just buried his head in his hands. "… I was just feeling more relaxed, too…"

"Come to bed, Gray. I'll just put these somewhere safe – and secret – and then we'll see if you're too drunk to try for another kid."

"Lucy?"

"Yes?" Lucy turned in the doorway, face controlled but eyes dancing merrily.

"That's not how it works!"

Lucy shrugged.

"Who knows? Anyway, I'm very curious about these eggs. We'll keep a close eye on them, okay?"

Gray gave up. He got himself out of the chair and over to his mate.

Eventually they – that is, Lucy – got the eggs stowed away. Sometime later, they determined that Gray wasn't too drunk after all.

* * *

 **[IV]**

Gray's slight surprise was nothing to that of the doctor, who arrived in the room ready to deliver one baby and ended up with two. The second baby, a boy, was just as healthy as his older sister, whose cap of golden blond hair and huge blue eyes had already enchanted the young attendant doctor who had cleaned her up. The boy had midnight blue hair and big greyish-blue eyes that the younger doctor said would probably end up hazel or even brown.

"But…" The older doctor, who had attended Lucy throughout, was still bewildered, "we checked at every visit. I'll swear that there was only one. Even the MRI showed only one!"

"Oh well," Lucy said quietly, nuzzling her son's fuzzy head. She was very tired, but very content. For some reason, the strangeness didn't bother her the way it frustrated Gray.

"… You know…" Gray was holding his daughter in rapt delight. "This isn't so bad at all. And did you notice?"

Lucy grinned. "Of course."

The babies both had perfect, tiny Fairy Tail marks on their right forearms, just above the wrist.

* * *

 **[V]**

On a beautiful summer's day at the end of a particularly golden summer, the eggs finally hatched. The eggs had grown considerably since the twins were born. Lucy had made a point of taking the babies and the eggs out every day that she and Gray could manage. The eggs bathed in the hot summer sun and the little ones were kept comfortable by the magic of their doting father.

To nobody's surprise but his own, Gray seemed to be a natural as a parent. He was fiercely protective of Lucy and the children, but he also smiled more these days. Of course, the parents benefited a great deal from the assistance of Lucy's celestial spirit, Virgo, not to mention from the help of several close friends. Watching Erza with the tiny babies was especially amusing and touching. Gray didn't let Natsu hold them at all, until Lucy ordered him to lighten up.

Despite being only two and a half months old, Auria and Argent were both drawn to "their" eggs, and their parents had quickly learned to keep the babies and the eggs in visual proximity when possible. It saved a lot of tears and frustration.

The day the eggs hatched, there were only the four of them, sitting or lying out on a blanket out in a sunny field redolent with the smell of sweet summer grasses baking under the clear skies. The babies had been staring at the eggs for several minutes before the first cracks appeared, something that their parents hadn't noticed. A sharp cracking sound made both Gray and Lucy look up in a hurry, though.

Over the next several minutes, the two large eggs – now each about thirty centimeters long – rocked and cracked and did all the fascinating thing that hatching eggs do. When the first egg split, Auria cooed and held out welcoming, pudgy little hands. A very small bright blue kitten staggered over to the girl and snuggled up to her. A moment later, a snow-white kitten tumbled out of the second egg and rolled into a furry heap beside Argent, who gurgled enthusiastically.

"They look just like Happy and… do you suppose they fly, too?" Gray glanced hopefully at Lucy.

"Of course," Lucy replied as calmly as she could with a giant grin on her face.

* * *

 **[VI]**

The Heartfilia-Fullbuster twins were special for many reasons. In fact, their parents had to protect them from over-enthusiastic medical and magical investigators. However, they became best known on high-quality video-lacrima across the globe for the images of them soaring across the skies carried by their adorable winged cats, Ice and Snow.

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 **A/Note:** And **now** I'm really done! It bothered me that I never covered the bonus prompt "Fly". And I really wanted to complete my overarching story.

If you haven't already, please see the two stand-alone GrayLu stories: Clothing Optional (for "T-shirt") and All Shook Up (for "Vintage").

You may also decide to give Hakuouki (the anime or PS3/Vita game) a chance after reading the first few chapters of my Hakuouki story Teachings of Demons. :)

Thank you for reading! Please come back sometime and check for other stories! All Favourites, Follows and reviews very much appreciated. \\(^u^)~


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